News

Brian Sabean says Giants to remain patient despite slumping ways

By Alex Pavlovic apavlovic@mercurynews.com

Posted:
06/27/2013 11:07:55 AM PDT

Updated:
06/27/2013 10:29:08 PM PDT

DENVER -- Giants general manager Brian Sabean and his staff have burned up the phone lines in recent weeks while coming up with lists of potentially available starting pitchers, relievers and position players.

The harder part may be determining where exactly the patches need to go on a club that has suffered a string of crushing injuries, was just swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers and has dropped to fourth place in the lackluster National League West.

"There have been a lot of leaks, so to speak, on the roster," Sabean said as his team approached the halfway mark of the season. "The sands are always shifting. That's what makes a difference."

The shifts have come so abruptly that it's difficult from week to week to determine where the Giants need the most help. In the grand scheme, just about everything has gone wrong at one time or another for a group that is 38-40.

In April, the starting pitchers gave up 24 homers, with Matt Cain and Ryan Vogelsong slogging through uncharacteristic struggles. The staff was worse in May, and the rough starts were exacerbated when a normally sure-handed team committed a major league-leading 25 errors.

As the starters have turned the page -- allowing three earned runs or fewer in 11 of the past 14 games -- the bullpen has imploded. And the lineup, so steady early on, is second-to-last in the N.L. in runs per game (3.46) in June. The Giants have scored just 33 runs in the last 12 games, losing nine of them.

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The wild inconsistency adds up to an MLB-worst 15-25 record over the past 40 games, the pace of a 61-win team.

"We're not very good right now, but that's now," manager Bruce Bochy said. "We are good. We're better than this."

As the trade deadline approaches, both Sabean and Bochy said the pieces for a turnaround are already in house. Sabean is confident scuffling left-hander Jeremy Affeldt will return to form and join injured right-hander Santiago Casilla (expected back on the next homestand) in solidifying the bullpen.

Bochy insists that his lineup is all but set, and when asked about the starting rotation, Sabean said, "At the present time, we have no plans to do anything but exercise patience. That's what we're trying to do."

The Giants might have little choice. Sabean has financial flexibility, but the farm system isn't brimming with high-upside prospects, and all the injuries have left opposing front offices asking for everything short of Coit Tower when Sabean picks up the phone.

"You could overpay and not accomplish anything else up the line," Sabean said. "That's where you have to exercise the patience.

"There's no way you're going to solve what you think all your problems are from the outside world. It's just not going to happen. There are not enough players to go around. We're going to have to do some damage control and improve with the roster we have."

Sabean pointed to Pablo Sandoval's return as a panacea for the lineup's issues. He was effusive in his praise of Gregor Blanco, who has taken over the leadoff spot in the absence of Angel Pagan, who might miss the rest of the regular season after surgery to repair an injured hamstring.

The Giants have been connected to virtually every starting pitcher on the market, but if the price is not right, they'll lean on rookie Mike Kickham until Chad Gaudin and Vogelsong return from injuries.

More than anything, Sabean said, the Giants should start recovering when they get past a brutal stretch in which 22 of 31 games are on the road.

On the first night of this latest trip, Bochy held a brief meeting to remind his quiet team that the situation was not as calamitous as it looked. Despite all the negatives in the season's first half, the Giants entered the off day just 3﻿1/2 games out of first.

"It's just about digging deep and looking at the guy next to you and knowing that you're here for the same reason you were last year," right-hander Tim Lincecum said. "Once guys get back to that mindset and get back to having fun, that'll springboard us to bigger innings (as hitters) and more zeros as pitchers. That's not too far away."